By: Krusee (Senate Sponsor - Nelson) H.B. No. 2051
(In the Senate - Received from the House April 28, 2005;
April 29, 2005, read first time and referred to Committee on
Intergovernmental Relations; May 24, 2005, reported adversely,
with favorable Committee Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 3,
Nays 0; May 24, 2005, sent to printer.)
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR H.B. No. 2051 By: Wentworth
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the adoption of a state scenic byways program.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter B, Chapter 391, Transportation Code,
is amended by adding Section 391.038 to read as follows:
Sec. 391.038. REGULATION OF OUTDOOR ADVERTISING ON CERTAIN
HIGHWAYS. (a) Except as provided by Subsection (b), the
commission by rule shall prohibit outdoor advertising in a manner
consistent with 23 U.S.C. Section 131(s) on a State Scenic Byway
designated under Section 391.256.
(b) A rule adopted under Subsection (a) may not apply to
outdoor advertising:
(1) permitted under Section 391.031(b)(1); or
(2) required to be relocated by an improvement to the
state highway system if the advertising was erected before the
highway was designated a State Scenic Byway under Section 391.256.
SECTION 2. Subchapter I, Chapter 391, Transportation Code,
is amended by adding Section 391.256 to read as follows:
Sec. 391.256. SCENIC BYWAYS PROGRAM. (a) The department
shall plan, design, and establish a program for designating
highways as State Scenic Byways.
(b) The program must include a process by which the
department:
(1) receives proposals from political subdivisions or
other community groups approved by the department for funding
projects in accordance with 23 U.S.C. Section 162;
(2) applies for grants under 23 U.S.C. Section 162 for
the projects;
(3) allows an applicant who consents to pay for the
costs of the projects that are not covered by grants made under 23
U.S.C. Section 162;
(4) excludes from designation a highway or a segment
of a highway that no longer meets the criteria established by the
department for designation as a State Scenic Byway; and
(5) excludes from designation as a State Scenic Byway
any segment of a highway that:
(A) is adjacent to land zoned as commercial or
industrial;
(B) does not have the scenic, historic, cultural,
natural, recreational, or archaeological qualities for which the
highway as a whole is being designated; and
(C) is not requested to be excluded from
designation for the sole purpose of allowing outdoor advertising as
determined by the department.
(c) The department shall designate a highway as a State
Scenic Byway under the program established by this section before
the department applies for a grant under Subsection (b)(1) for a
project related to the highway.
(d) The department may use money from the state highway fund
to pay for the costs of a project that are not covered by a grant
made under 23 U.S.C. Section 162.
(e) The department shall adopt rules to implement this
section.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2005.
* * * * *